Irish Actors and Actresses

1. Cillian Murphy

Striking Irish actor Cillian Murphy was born in Douglas, the oldest child of Brendan Murphy, who works for the Irish Department of Education, and a mother who is a teacher of French. He has three younger siblings. Murphy was educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork. He went on to study law ...

2. Saoirse Ronan

Actress | Hanna

Saoirse Una Ronan was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, to Irish parents, Monica Ronan (née Brennan) and Paul Ronan, an actor. When Saoirse was three, the family moved back to Dublin, Ireland. Saoirse grew up in Dublin and briefly in Co. Carlow before moving back to Dublin ...

3. Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Actor | Den 12. mann

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Meyers on July 27, 1977, in Dublin, Ireland, to Mary Geraldine (Meyers) and John O'Keeffe, a musician. He and his family moved to County Cork, Ireland, when the actor was nearly a year old, and then, at the age of 3, his father left the family, leaving...

4. Liam Neeson

Actor | Kinsey

Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an ...

5. Stephen Rea

Actor | The Crying Game

Stephen Rea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Belfast High School and the Queen's University, where he studied English. He later trained at the Abbey Theatre School in Dublin. In 1970s, he acted in the Focus Company in Dublin with the talented Gabriel Byrne and Colm Meaney. After ...

6. Evanna Lynch

Actress | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Evanna Patricia Lynch is an Irish actress. Born in the town of Termonfeckin in Ireland, she is one of four children to Donal and Marguerite Lynch. Her acting career began in 2007 when she competed in an open audition against nearly 15,000 girls, and won the coveted role of Luna Lovegood in the "...

7. Liam Cunningham

Actor | Hunger

Irish actor Liam Cunningham was an electrician in the mid-'80s. He saw an ad for an acting school and he decided to give it a try. His first film role was as a policeman in "Into the West." Since then, he has been involved in many films and theater productions on both sides of the Atlantic.

8. Niall Toibin

Actor | Far and Away

Niall Toibin was born in Cork, Ireland in 1929. Married Judy Kenny (1931-2001) in 1957. Five children and six grand-children. He has had an illustrious acting career spanning over four decades. On October 29 2002 he received the CFT Excellence Award for Best Actor.

9. Maureen O'Hara

Actress | The Quiet Man

In America, the early performing arts accomplishments of young Maureen FitzSimons (who we know as Maureen O'Hara) would definitely have put her in the child prodigy category. However, for a child of Irish heritage surrounded by gifted parents and family, these were very natural traits. Maureen made...

10. David Kelly

Actor | Waking Ned

Born Dublin, Ireland on July 11 1929. Educated at Synge Street Catholic boys school. Started acting aged 8 in the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. Playing everything from Beckett to Shakespeare, he has appeared in theatre, TV and film constantly since 1959. Awards include: Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding ...

11. Brendan Gleeson

Actor | Calvary

Brendan Gleeson was born in Dublin, Ireland, to Pat and Frank Gleeson. From a very young age, he loved to learn, especially reading classical text in and outside the classroom. He took great attention to Irish play writers such as Samuel Beckett, which eventually led to him performing in his high ...

12. Frank Kelly

Actor | Father Ted

Frank Kelly was born on December 28, 1938 in Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for Father Ted (1995), Evelyn (2002) and Rat (2000). He was married to Bairbre Neldon. He died on February 28, 2016 in the UK.

13. Domhnall Gleeson

Actor | Ex Machina

Domhnall Gleeson is an Irish actor and writer. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise (2010-2011), About Time (2013), Ex Machina (2015) and The Revenant (2015).

He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, alongside whom he has appeared in several films and ...

14. Alison Doody

Actress | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Alison Doody was born in Dublin in 1966, in a well-off family. She is the youngest of three children. She was educated in a convent, where she gained a passion for the arts. She later studied at the National College of Fine Arts in Dublin, but she left because she lacked the motivation and thought ...

15. Sarah Bolger

Actress | In America

Sarah Lee Bolger (born 28 February 1991) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her roles in the films In America (2002), Stormbreaker, and The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), as well as her award winning role as Lady Mary Tudor in the TV series The Tudors (2007), and for guest starring as ...

16. Ruth Negga

Actress | Loving

Ruth Negga was born on May 4, 1981 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She is an actress and producer, known for Loving (2016), Passing (2021) and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013).

17. Brian Gleeson

Actor | Snow White and the Huntsman

Brian Gleeson was born on November 14, 1987 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Logan Lucky (2017) and Assassin's Creed (2016).

18. Sean McGinley

Actor | On a Clear Day

Sean McGinley was born on March 1, 1956 in Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for On a Clear Day (2005), Braveheart (1995) and Michael Collins (1996). He has been married to Marie Mullen since 1990. They have two children.

19. Hugh O'Conor

Actor | Chocolat

A young dramatic actor of film and TV who has appeared in several dark big-screen dramas, the Irish-born O'Conor (not to be confused with the late American actor Hugh O'Connor) began acting at the age of eight. O'Conor was still a relative unknown pre-teen when he co-starred with Liam Neeson in the...

20. Kenneth Branagh

Actor | Henry V

Kenneth Charles Branagh was born on December 10, 1960, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to parents William Branagh, a plumber and carpenter, and Frances (Harper), both born in 1930. He has two siblings, William Branagh, Jr. (born 1955) and Joyce Branagh (born 1970). When he was nine, his family ...

21. Patrick Bergin

Actor | Sleeping with the Enemy

Patrick Bergin has done more than 80 films and TV movies and is best known internationally for playing the menacing husband of Julia Roberts’ character in the thriller Sleeping With the Enemy, or for his role as an Irish terrorist alongside Harrison Ford in the film adaption of Patriot Games. He ...

22. Wilfrid Brambell

Actor | A Hard Day's Night

Wilfrid Brambell was born on 22 March 1912, in Dublin, Ireland. His first acting experience was when he was aged just two, entertaining wounded soldiers returning from action during the First World War. On leaving school he worked part-time as a reporter for The Irish Times and part-time as an ...

23. Daniel Day-Lewis

Actor | There Will Be Blood

Born in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of the U.K., and his second wife, actress Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, an important figure in the history of British cinema and head of the famous Ealing ...

24. Pierce Brosnan

Actor | Mamma Mia!

Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, to May (Smith), a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County Meath, until he moved to England, UK, at an early age (thus explaining his ability to play men from both backgrounds convincingly). His father left...

25. James Nesbitt

Actor | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

James Nesbitt was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, to May, a civil servant, and James Nesbitt, a primary school headmaster. He was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution (also the school of Brian Campbell & Brian McAlister). He originally planned to be a French teacher. It ...

26. Brenda Fricker

Actress | My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

Irish character actress Brenda Fricker was born in Dublin, and gained experience in Irish theatre and with the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Court Theatre Company in Great Britain. Brenda received great acclaim for her Oscar-winning supporting performance as the ...

27. Devon Murray

Actor | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Devon Murray was born in County Kildare, Ireland in October 1988. His parents Michael and Fidelma Murray sent him to the Billie Barry when he was six, and within two weeks he landed a Tesco television ad. Within six months he was in his first movie, acting alongside Aidan Quinn in This Is My Father...

28. Colm Meaney

Actor | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Colm Meaney was born on May 30, 1953 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor and producer, known for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Layer Cake (2004) and Under Siege (1992). He has been married to Ines Glorian since March 15, 2007. They have one child. He was previously married to Bairbre Dowling.

29. Fiona Shaw

Actress | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1

Shaw was already an accomplished theater actress when director Jim Sheridan awarded her a role in his film, My Left Foot (1989). The film is a telling of Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis), an Irishman disgruntled with his confinement to a body horribly crippled by cerebral palsy but who found ...

30. Michael Fassbender

Actor | Shame

Michael Fassbender is an Irish actor who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to a German father, Josef, and an Irish mother, Adele (originally from Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland). Michael was raised in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry, in south-west Ireland, where his family moved to when ...

31. Stuart Townsend

Actor | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Stuart Townsend was born in Howth, County Dublin in 1972. Although his father, Peter Townsend was a professional golfer, Stuart was determined to be an actor and began his career by appearing in a number of student films, while attending the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. He supported himself ...

32. Gabriel Byrne

Actor | The Usual Suspects

Byrne was the eldest of six children born to a family in Dublin, Ireland. His father was a cooper and his mother a hospital worker. He was raised Catholic and educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. He spent five years of his childhood in a seminary training to be a Catholic priest. He later said...

33. Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Actor | Den 12. mann

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born Jonathan Michael Meyers on July 27, 1977, in Dublin, Ireland, to Mary Geraldine (Meyers) and John O'Keeffe, a musician. He and his family moved to County Cork, Ireland, when the actor was nearly a year old, and then, at the age of 3, his father left the family, leaving...

34. Stephen Rea

Actor | The Crying Game

Stephen Rea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Belfast High School and the Queen's University, where he studied English. He later trained at the Abbey Theatre School in Dublin. In 1970s, he acted in the Focus Company in Dublin with the talented Gabriel Byrne and Colm Meaney. After ...

35. Dan O'Herlihy

Actor | RoboCop

Daniel Peter "Dan" O'Herlihy was born on 1 May 1919 at Odessa Cottage, Wexford Town, County Wexford (Ireland) to John Robert O'Herlihy, a civil servant from Cork who later worked in the Department of Industry and Commerce, and Ellen (née Hanton). Dan had at least two siblings, a sister and a ...

36. Peter O'Toole

Actor | Lawrence of Arabia

A leading man of prodigious talents, Peter O'Toole was born and raised in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, the son of Constance Jane Eliot (Ferguson), a Scottish nurse, and Patrick Joseph O'Toole, an Irish metal plater, football player and racecourse bookmaker. Upon leaving school, he decided to become a...

37. Stephen Boyd

Actor | Ben-Hur

Stephen Boyd was born William Millar on July 4, 1931, at Glengormley, Northern Ireland, one of nine children of Martha Boyd and Canadian truck driver James Alexander Millar, who worked for Fleming's on Tomb Street in Belfast. He attended Glengormley & Ballyrobert primary school and then moved on to...

38. Wilfrid Brambell

Actor | A Hard Day's Night

Wilfrid Brambell was born on 22 March 1912, in Dublin, Ireland. His first acting experience was when he was aged just two, entertaining wounded soldiers returning from action during the First World War. On leaving school he worked part-time as a reporter for The Irish Times and part-time as an ...

39. Ray McAnally

Actor | The Mission

Although Irish character actor Ray McAnally would become one of his country's most revered stage actors, he will be forever remembered by audiences both here and abroad for a couple of films he made during the last years of his life.

Born on March 30, 1926, in the seaside town of Buncrana and the ...

40. Robert Sheehan

Actor | The Umbrella Academy

Irish actor Robert Sheehan was born in Portlaoise, County Laois, the son of Joseph and Maria Sheehan. His father was a member of the Garda Síochána, the police force of the Republic of Ireland. As a child, Sheehan was interested in performing music. He learned how to play the banjo, the bodhrán, ...

41. Olivia Wilde

Actress | Tron: Legacy

Actress and activist Olivia Wilde is a modern day renaissance woman, starring in many acclaimed film productions, while simultaneously giving back to the community.

She was born on March 10, 1984 in New York City. Her parents are Leslie Cockburn (née Leslie Corkill Redlich) and Andrew Cockburn. Her ...

42. Emma Bolger

Actress | In America

Emma Bolger was born on January 5, 1996 in Dublin, Ireland. She is an actress, known for In America (2002), Heidi (2005) and Proof (2004).

43. Richard Harris

Actor | Unforgiven

Richard St John Harris was born on October 1, 1930 in Limerick, Ireland, to a farming family, one of nine children born to Mildred (Harty) and Ivan Harris. He attended Crescent College, a Jesuit school, and was an excellent rugby player, with a strong passion for literature. Unfortunately, a bout ...

44. Katie McGrath

Actress | Jurassic World

Irish actress Katie McGrath did not intend to make a career for herself in the acting profession. Upon graduating from Trinity College in Dublin she became interested in fashion journalism and worked for lifestyle and fashion magazine, Image. She left after a while, as it was not her calling. After...

45. Kerry Condon

Actress | The Banshees of Inisherin

Kerry Condon is an Irish television and film actress, best known for her role as Octavia of the Julii in the HBO/BBC series Rome, as Stacey Ehrmantraut in AMC's Better Call Saul, and as the voice of F.R.I.D.A.Y. in various films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is also the youngest actress ...

46. Samantha Mumba

Actress | The Time Machine

Samantha Mumba was born on January 18, 1983 in Dublin, Ireland. She is an actress and composer, known for The Time Machine (2002), Evolution (2001) and Legally Blonde (2001). She has been married to Torray Scales since February 24, 2012. They have one child.

47. Stuart Townsend

Actor | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Stuart Townsend was born in Howth, County Dublin in 1972. Although his father, Peter Townsend was a professional golfer, Stuart was determined to be an actor and began his career by appearing in a number of student films, while attending the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. He supported himself ...

48. Ciara O'Callaghan

Actress | Harry Wild

Ciara is a well-established Irish actress with over 20 years experience in the industry. She has a BA in Drama and Theatre from The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College Dublin and a degree in Dance and Film from Université Nanterre, Paris.

Ciara most recently returned to her role of Julie O'Brien ...

49. Maria Doyle Kennedy

Actress | The Tudors

Maria Doyle Kennedy was born on September 25, 1964 in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. She is an actress and director, known for The Tudors (2007), The Commitments (1991) and Orphan Black (2013). She has been married to Kieran Kennedy since June 11, 1988. They have four children.

50. Bronagh Gallagher

Actress | Pulp Fiction

Bronagh Gallagher is an Irish-born singer and actress. Born in 1972 in Northern Ireland, Bronagh became involved in the performing arts, including music and drama during her teenage years. She later joined a local amateur drama group known as the Oakgrove Theatre Company. Bronagh made her screen ...

51. Glen Hansard

Soundtrack | Once

Glen Hansard is an Irish singer-songwriter. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten of the Irish Album Charts. In the 2000s, he was one half of folk rock duo The Swell Season ...

52. Geraldine Somerville

Actress | Gosford Park

Geraldine Somerville was born in Dublin. She lived in Co. Meath until she was six, when her parents moved to the Isle of Man. Geraldine went to dance classes from the age of 6 and, at the age of 8, she attended the Arts Educational School in Tring, Hertfordshire. There, she was taught ballet, music...

53. Emmett J Scanlan

Actor | Peaky Blinders

Emmett can currently be seen as the series lead Jimmy Kinsella in the AMC series KIN opposite Aidan Gillen and Charlie Cox. He was nominated for an IFTA Award for his performance. Emmett was also recently seen reprising his role as Billy Grade in the latest series of PEAKY BLINDERS opposite Cillian...

54. Nora-Jane Noone

Actress | The Descent

Nora-Jane Noone was born on March 8, 1984 in Galway, Ireland. She is an actress and writer, known for The Descent (2005), The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Brooklyn (2015).

55. Geraldine Fitzgerald

Actress | Dark Victory

Geraldine Fitzgerald was the only actress to appear as both Laurence Olivier's wife and Rodney Dangerfield's mother-in-law, which surely qualifies her as running the gamut (if not the gauntlet, in the latter case) of A to Z for co-starring with cinema immortals. The Irish lass appeared in many ...

56. Amy Huberman

Actress | The Stag

Amy Huberman was born in Dublin, Ireland. Amy is an actor and writer, known for The Bachelor Weekend (2013), Finding Joy (2018) and Threesome (2011). Amy has been married to Brian O'Driscoll since July 2, 2010. They have three children.

57. Gerry Shanahan

Actor | La migliore offerta

Gerry Shanahan was born in Waterford City. He moved to Navan Co. Meath at an early age. He started his acting career in 2001. He is the holder of a Private Pilots license and is an American Kenpo Karate Black Belt instructor. He trained at the Gaeity School of Acting in Dublin and the Irish Film ...

58. Jade Yourell

Actress | Happy Ever Afters

Jade Yourell was born on October 11, 1978 in Galway, Ireland. She is an actress and writer, known for Happy Ever Afters (2009), The Clan MacLeod and Waiting for Dublin (2007).

59. Maria Anastacia Keogh

Actress | Feinmharu

Maria Anastacia Keogh was was born in Lewisham, Greater London. Her family the Thomas clan moved back to the west coast of Mayo, Ireland. As a youth she went to drama classes directed by the Irish playwright, RTE director and actor John Breen. During this time she studied Arts at the National ...

60. Jenn Murray

Actress | Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Jenn Murray was born on April 1, 1986. She is an actress and director, known for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), Brooklyn (2015) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).

61. Rory Keenan

Actor | The Guard

Irish actor Rory Keenan has worked extensively in theatre and film. Regularly performing leading roles on the London stage and beyond, he has also appeared in TV and film projects such as Peaky Blinders, War & Peace, Birdsong, The Guard, Somewhere Boy and soon HBO's The Regime. He lives in the UK.

62. Antonia Campbell-Hughes

Actress | Cordelia

Following a long acting career with a wealth of Awards (Screen stars, Berlinale Shooting Stars, BIFA, IFTA), established Antonia as having 'a flair for experiment and depth'. From the Cannes breakout The Other Side of Sleep, Jane Campions Bright Star, BAFTA wining Kelly&victor in titular role. ...

63. Ciarán Hinds

Actor | Belfast

Ciarán Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on February 9, 1953. He was one of five children and the only son. His father was a doctor who hoped to have Ciarán follow in his footsteps, but that was not to be. It was his mother Moya, an amateur actress, who was the real influence behind his ...

64. Leigh Arnold

Actress | The Clinic

After completing her degree in Psychology and Psychoanalysis, Leigh was accepted to The American Academy of Dramatic Arts In New York, where she resided for four years. After completing drama school she was cast as Dr. Clodagh Delaney in the hit Irish Television Series The Clinic which she starred ...

65. Aidan Gillen

Actor | Game of Thrones

Aidan Gillen is an Irish actor. He is best known for portraying Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011), CIA operative Bill Wilson in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Stuart Alan Jones in the Channel 4 series Queer as Folk (1999), John Boy in the RTÉ Television series ...

66. Richard Wall

Actor | An Tain Darkness Descends

Richard Wall was born on January 18, 1977 in Kerry, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for An Tain Darkness Descends (2011), Anton (2008) and DeCameraOn (2020).

67. Pádraic Delaney

Actor | The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Pádraic was born on November 6th 1977 in County Wexford, Ireland. He studied at Trinity College Dublin and graduated in 2001. His first film, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. He is also known for The Tudors (2008), Blackthorn (2011) and ...

68. Darren Healy

Actor | Once

Darren Healy is known for Once (2007), Bloody Sunday (2002) and Layer Cake (2004).

69. Eoin Macken

Actor | Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

Eoin Macken is an international actor, director, producer, and writer who stars as the lead role of 'Gavin Harris' on the two-time People's Choice Award nominated NBC primetime hit series "La Brea," currently airing its third and final season. Eoin can also be seen starring in Netflix's recently ...

70. Kellie Blaise

Actress | Death Race: Beyond Anarchy

Kellie's journey began on the stages of many of Ireland's prestigious venues. The success of her debut performance in the National Concert Hall at the age of 15 secured her return for the next 2 years. At the age of 18, Kellie secured a contract with a Los Angeles-based management company, ...

71. Mick Fitzgerald

Visual_effects | King Arthur

Mick Fitzgerald was born in Dublin and started entertaining at an early age. He is an established recording artist with several credits for singer/songwriter, 'Light Sleeper' is his solo CD on his own label "Mogg Records" (distributed by Claddagh Records in Dublin and through his website ...

72. Joe McKinney

Actor | King Arthur

Joe McKinney was born on May 12, 1967 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor, known for King Arthur (2004), The Professor and the Madman (2019) and Glenroe (1983).

73. Don Wycherley

Actor | Sing Street

Don Wycherley was born on September 15, 1967 in Cork, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for Sing Street (2016), Michael Collins (1996) and The Running Mate (2007).

74. Seamus Moran

Actor | In the Name of the Father

Seamus Moran is known for In the Name of the Father (1993), Tome Feenes (2010) and Scéal (2013).

75. Sorcha Ní Chéide

Actress | Rásaí na Gaillimhe

Sorcha Ní Chéide is known for Rásaí na Gaillimhe (2009), Pursuit (2015) and Ros na Rún (1996).

76. Olga Wehrly

Actress | Wildfire

Olga Wehrly is known for Wildfire (2020), The Head (2020) and Vivarium (2019).

77. Gavin O'Connor

Actor | The Hunt for Raoul Moat

Gavin is an Irish actor best known for his work as Mackin in the hit drama Taken Down (2018). Known for his character portrayal of real-life people, Gavin took on the role of Northumbria Police Chief, Steve Neill in The Hunt for Raoul Moat (2023), as well as his critically acclaimed role of Sean ...